Lithium-based compounds, such as lithium metal phosphates (e.g., LiFePO4) and lithium metal oxides (e.g., LiMnNiO2), are materials that may be used in electrochemical cells such as batteries. The materials may be processed, for example, to form powders that are used to form electrodes (e.g., anode, cathode) of the cell. There is a desire in the art to improve electrochemical performance in cells including increased charging/discharging rates, increased power density and increased operational lifetime.
Milling processes typically use grinding media to crush, or beat, a product material to smaller dimensions. For example, the product material may be provided in the form of a powder having relatively large particles and the milling process may be used to reduce the size of the particles.
Grinding media may have a variety of sizes and shapes. In a typical milling process, the grinding media are used in a device known as a mill (e.g., ball mill, rod mill, attritor mill, stirred media mill, pebble mill). Mills typically operate by distributing product material around the grinding media and rotating to cause collisions between grinding media that fracture product material particles into smaller dimensions to produce a milled particle composition.